Christopher Crawford: Documentary Photography

Road Trip to Santa Fe 2011

In August 2011, my son and I drove across the country from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Santa Fe, New Mexico. We drove through Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. In New Mexico, we drove down to Albuquerque to hike atop the Sandia Mountains, which tower nearly a mile above the sprawling city below. We also visited Roswell to see the UFO Museum, and then drove to Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

My purpose in going to New Mexico was to retrieve about 300 books and a large number of framed prints that I had left in the care of my friend Christina Bergh, a talented textile artist. I couldn't afford to bring them back to Indiana when I moved back here at the end of 2007, and it took me a few years to find the money to go back for them.

I spent a lot of time, and 43 rolls of film, photographing interesting places along the way, and throughout the parts of New Mexico that we visited. Much of the journey followed the former Route 66 along I-44 and I-40. I also visited Mary Mora, one of the most interesting people that I have met in my travels.

Four years earlier, I made several trips between Santa Fe and Indiana to bring my son to New Mexico to visit me when I lived there. Part of the route of those drives was retraced in this trip. You can see the photographs of those earlier journeys in my Road to Indiana project.